Many of today's entertainment or communication-related electronic devices rely on receiving, transmitting, and/or using streaming digital data or content. For example, a set-top box may receive broadcast television programs and/or video-on-demand (VOD) that is streamed from a content provider. A personal computer may receive a stream of a video clip over the Internet. A soft phone may receive streaming audio data over a suitable link/channel that is established over an Internet Protocol (IP) or other packet-based network. As a number of available media streams increases, loads placed on serving content files and associating data files also increases, requiring corresponding increases in network capacity and robustness.